Holly Robinson Peete, Whose Son Has Autism, Blasts RFK Jr. For ‘Triggering’ Comments About The Disorder

Holly Robinson Peete, Whose Son Has Autism, Blasts RFK Jr. For ‘Triggering’ Comments About The Disorder

Holly Robinson Peete is speaking out against RFK Jr.’s controversial remarks about autism.

The longtime advocate called out the Secretary of Health and Human Services following his April 16 press conference, where he referred to autism as a “disease,” described rising diagnoses as an “epidemic,” and claimed children with autism “will never pay taxes… never play baseball… never write a poem… never go out on a date.”

In an IG video, Holly Robinson Peete said,

“I don’t even know where to start. So much to unpack.”

She added,

“I am not an expert. I’m not a doctor. I’m just somebody’s mama and someone who’s been advocating for the autism community… for 25 years. And I don’t know everything, but I do know this: autism is not a disease. It is a disorder, a developmental disorder. And it is important to get that right if you are the Secretary of Health and Human Services.”

Holly Robinson Peete, whose 27-year-old son RJ was diagnosed at age three, said Kennedy’s statements were “triggering” and brought her back to when doctors listed all the things RJ would never do: “She said he would never have friends, have meaningful employment, drive, live on his own, never say ‘I love you,’ never play team sports… So when the Secretary of Health and Human Services just ran off another never list, it triggered me in ways I can’t even describe.”

Her son, she said, has “shattered most of those nevers off of that list.” Kennedy’s words, she continued, “play into every stereotype and stigma that every person with autism has ever had to fight to overcome,” and made her “feel the weight of every parent who’s ever had to fight three times, four times as hard just to prove their child’s worth.”

 

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